Amazon Confirms Cloud Player, Its Would-Be iTunes Killer, Now Works On Sonos, More Devices Coming Later This Year
At the end of July, Amazon updated its Cloud Player to be in fighting form as an iTunes killer, with a load of new audio features like Scan and Match technology and licensing deals with a number of labels.
Context & Ripple Effects
Amazon began Cloud Player as a service for computers and Android, then widened access with iOS compatibility. Its late-July Scan and Match, audio-quality and premium-account update added the music-library features and label arrangements needed to make device reach more valuable.
Sonos integration turns that cloud library into a home-audio destination, while Amazon says further device support is planned for 2012. The story’s broad syndication underscores how closely the service’s distribution strategy is being watched.
First-order effects
- Sonos owners can play their Amazon Cloud Player libraries through their speakers, giving Amazon an in-home listening endpoint beyond computers, Android and iOS devices.
- Amazon’s planned additional integrations increase the immediate reach of the premium Cloud Player features introduced in July.
Second-order effects
- Sonos gains another cloud-music source for its customers, while Amazon’s label licensing deals become more useful as the service reaches more playback hardware.
- Cloud music-library services are pushed to compete on playback availability across devices, not solely on storage and music-import features.
Third-order effects
- If Amazon continues pairing library-matching features with hardware integrations, cloud music services will increasingly be differentiated by control of the listening endpoints as well as the music catalog.
- The pattern favors interoperable music platforms that can carry a user’s library across personal devices and home audio systems.
The trend: Cloud music is shifting from a device-bound library toward a service whose value rises with each supported playback endpoint.